Andhra Pradesh bus tragedy: 9 dead, 23 injured after vehicle falls into gorge

Nine pilgrims died and 23 others were injured when a private travel bus fell into a gorge in Alluri Sitharamaraju district in the early hours of FridayThe accident occurred on the ChinturNaredumilli ghat road when the driver apparently failed to negotiate a sharp turn and hit the safety wall before it fell into the gorgeThe bus carrying 37 people including two drivers was heading to BhadrachalamThe passengers were all from the Chittoor district who were on their way to the Bhadrachalam temple in Telangana from ArakuThe victims were on a pilgrimage tour to various temples in north Andhra and neighbouring TelanganaAs there was no mobile phone network coverage in the area where the accident occurred it took some time for the information to reach the policePolice rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation Nine bodies were recovered from the accident spotThe injured were shifted to a hospital in ChinturThe condition of five of the injured was stated to be critical and they were shifted to a hospital at BhadrachalamFive police vehicles and three ambulances were pressed into service to shift the injuredPolice suspect that poor visibility due to dense fog in the region may have led to the tragedyThe driver was not familiar with the roads in the region and officials believe that he could not control the vehicle at the curveChief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed shock over the accidentHe spoke to officials about the rescue and relief operations He directed them to ensure the best treatment for the injuredHome Minister V Anitha and Tribal Welfare and Women and Child Welfare Minister G Sandhya Rani left for the accident siteThey spoke to the Collector and Superintendent of Police of Alluri Sitharamaraju district and directed them to ensure all help to the victimsVoicing concern over increasing road accidents Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had last month ordered thirdparty auditing on road accidents to know the causesAddressing the Road Safety Council meeting the Chief Minister had expressed concern over the deaths of 6433 people in 15462 road accidents in the state so far this yearAccording to officials 79 per cent of accidents occur due to overspeeding three per cent due to wrongside driving and one per cent due to alcohol and mobile phonesAndhra Pradesh stands in eighth place in road accidents in the countryThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever